Bill Nye, future series speaker

The recently-announced Dancing with the Stars contestant and science guru will speak at the University during the spring semester as a part of the Presidential Lecture Series.

The Student Government Association, Murray State Foundation and the President’s Office will sponsor the Presidential Lecture Series speaker, who will be on campus in the CFSB Center on Feb. 3, 2014.

SGA President Jeremiah Johnson said he is thrilled to have Nye speaking at Murray State.

“Students grew up with him,” Johnson said. “He was a stable educational figure in many students’ lives, and he made learning fun.”

Nye currently hosts three TV shows: The 100 Greatest Discoveries on the Science Channel, The Eyes of Nye on PBS and Stuff Happens on Planet Green.

He is also the vice president of The Planetary Society, the world’s largest space-interest group, and speaks all over the world about space exploration.

Murray State is not Nye’s first visit to a college campus, though. Last year he visited the University of North Carolina as a guest speaker and has given many commencement speeches at various universities.

Nye also regularly visits Cornell University as a professor as part of the Frank H.T. Rhodes Visiting Professorship.

As a part of the Presidential Lecture Series, Nye joins a group of speakers that include Spike Lee, James Carville and Mary Matalin, Ben Stein, Desmond Tutu and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Johnson said the University tries to cater to students and get speakers with different backgrounds each year.

Last March, the Student Government Association pulled its monetary support from the lecture series after the executive board members decided to put SGA’s money toward more student-focused programming.

This year, SGA has reinstated funding for the lecture, and Johnson said he was excited to help fund such a fun, educational speaker.

“I think the students will really enjoy Bill,” Johnson said. “It should be a fun time.”